The Hollow Strawberry and the Black Wagtail
by Cpl.Leon
Summary: Ichigo had graduated from high school but couldn't get into college due to his delinquent-like looks, so Kisuke offers to get him into a college. The catch? Ichigo must investigate strange spikes in reiatsu in the city. How will he play the 'game' that involves the Sekirei, and how will he react to a certain grey haired Sekirei?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, Corporal here! If you are curious of why I named the Fic this way is because 'Sekirei' means Wagtail and Ichigo means strawberry. Anyways, this is my first story enjoy and review everyone.**

Ichigo Kurosaki, an eighteen year old substitute soul reaper and the hero of the winter war, woke up in a train. The train was that of any standard commuter, seats lined up along the sides and metal poles at intervals along the carriage, blue plastic handlebars hung on metal poles along the ceiling. The teen looked around from the position he found himself in sitting, or rather, leaning on the chair, his brown eyes peering out the window only to see it was pitch black outside. 'Where the hell am I?' was the only thing Ichigo was thinking as he stood up and looked around the carriage of the train once more. Slumping back onto the seat and putting on his usual scowl, he tried to remember what had happened for him to be in this situation.

He started from the beginning. It had been three days since he had regained his shinigami powers and, unfortunately, his hollow had decided to stick around his inner world. He remembered Kisuke calling Ichigo over to his candy shop to tell his about Tokyo being renamed into something different and, at the same time, asked him of his what university he would like to go to.

0o Flashbacko0

"So, Kurosaki-kun, have you heard of the recent news on Tokyo?" Kisuke said, his fan covering the lower half of his face as his bucket hat revealed only enough to show the slight glow of his eyes.

The two were sitting in the living area of Kisuke's shop, Ichigo having been supposedly invited by Kisuke for 'important' reasons, scowled deeply and gave a frustrated sigh as he glared at Kisuke. Having known the crazy scientist for the better half of his time as a shinigami, Ichigo knew that, by no means, this was simple small talk as any other would see it. The scientist always had an underlying reason to discuss seemingly mundane topics.

"Get to the point, Hat n' Clogs. I didn't come here for you to waste my time." Ichigo growled, a tick mark growing on his forehead as he looked about ready to pop a vein.

Kisuke folded his paper fan with a flick of his wrist, his usual mischievous grin evident on his face as the fan was moved away from his face. "There have been several spikes in reiatsu in Toyko city. The Soul Society deemed it unnecessary to look into it, but..." Kisuke's gaze suddenly became hard and piercing, indicating he was now serious about what he was talking about.

"These individuals with high reiatsu have been killing off the other individuals with higher reiatsu." Ichigo stiffened at that.

By the sound of it, these 'high-powered' individuals displayed hollow-like characteristics. Suddenly, Ichigo realized what Kisuke was asking him to do, to abandon his position as substitute shinigami and go to Tokyo. Just as Ichigo was about to protest, the teenage girl that worked for Kisuke appeared beside him. "Excuse me…would you like some of our new candy?" The girl known as Ururu asked, her voice nearly inaudible and her eyes avoiding his gaze. Ururu was a petite teenage girl with a shy personality and a an expression that made her look perpetually sad. Unable to turn her down, he ate the strange candy and the world went dark.

0oPresento0

Ichigo's eyes widened when he realized what happened. Kisuke had drugged him and had him shipped to Toyko. "That bastard!" Ichigo roared as a bright light blinded him temporarily.

The train had left the tunnel and the city of Tokyo loomed before him as the train sped along its designated track. Grabbing his cell phone, Ichigo scrolled through his contact list until the name Hat n' Clogs came into view. He pressed the 'call' button and waited for an answer. The answer came in the form of a cheerful Kisuke who had been the cause of all Ichigo's problems thus far.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, how is your journey thus far?" Kisuke asked, as if he did nothing wrong. A rather large tick mark appeared on Ichigo's head at the word of the older shinigami.

"Don't give me that innocent crap Kisuke, why did you drug me and ship me off here?" Ichigo roared, his only reply came in the form of a chuckle from Kisuke.

"Oh my, Kurosaki-kun, for someone who could not get into any college in Karakura you are awfully complacent." Kisuke mused, teasing the already fuming Ichigo.

That was the truth, though, while most of Ichigo's friends had already gotten into one college or another he had been unable to due to his delinquent-like appearance. Scowling, he cursed under his breath and heard Kisuke chuckle again.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, his eyes wandering to a bag that he just noticed was placed beside him.

"Have you found the bag of money and basic necessities I packed for you? Good. I think you deserve an explanation.

I need you to investigate the recent powered individuals that have been popping up in Tokyo recently. In return, I pulled some string to get you into a college I know you had your eye on! Don't worry, I have informed your family and another shinigami will be sent to protect Karakura." The scientist said triumphantly, the pride in his plan evident.

Despite this being part of Kisuke's plan, Ichigo really couldn't complain. "Fine." He grumbled as he cut the line, not wanting to hear anymore of the scientist's banter.

He found several thousand yen inside his bag, clothes, identification, the address of his new college and a toothbrush. As he exited the stop at the train station, he took a deep breath as he looked over the platform and into the view of the city before him, knowing that this was going to be a long course.

First things first, he needed to look for a place to stay. Kisuke had not organized and address for him, looking at the amount of money he had he could not afford much .

"Crap" Ichigo thought to himself as he slouched over and stuck his hands in his pocket and began to look for an address he could rent.

Walking around the street, he found a flyer to a place called Izumo Inn Pasted on a wall among various other colorful advertisements. Rent was 50, 000 yen a month for a room inclusive of dinner at 6:00 p.m everyday. Ichigo sighed as he saw the sky getting darker and his stomach began to grumble. Tearing the flyer off the wall, the tall teen began to walk towards the address printed on the flyer.

Some time later, the orange haired teen reached the address stated on the flyer in his hand. Izumo Inn was a traditional two level Japanese house. Knocking on the door Ichigo was met with the gaze of Miya Asama, a slender yet shapely woman with fair-skin and brown eyes. She had waist-length purple hair with shorter bangs in a hime-style. She wore the traditional attire of a miko that consists out of a purple hakama, a white haori with a sash-like belt, wooden sandals and a white ribbon to partially hold her hair in place. Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful woman, his heart pounding slightly faster and his usual scowl softening.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" The woman asked the stunned teen.


	2. Chapter 2: The DeathBerry Returns

Hello everyone Corporal again, I am pleased with the good amount of view, follows and favorites you have given this story. The review I have received are also very helpful so please send more so I can improve on my writing. I am proud to present the second chapter of: The Hollow Strawberry and the Black Wagtail.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

Realizing that he was staring at the purple haired beauty, Ichigo blinked and shook his head. Having seen Yoruichi, the Goddess of Flash herself naked more than enough times than he was comfortable with has granted him near immunity to women now. Ichigo raised his hand and held out the lightly crumpled piece of paper that was the flyer he had torn off from the wall.

"Hey, I was wondering if I could rent a room here." The orange haired teen said, hoisting the duffle bag over his shoulder and putting on his usual scowl.

Miya looked briefly at the boy in front of her, he looked much like a delinquent with his ever-present scowl, his intimidating height and his strange neon-orange spiked hair. However her late husband would never turn away a person in need, she took a deep breath and smiled softly. She hoped his behavior was not as bad as the way his looks portrayed him.

"Of course we have room, my name is Miya Asama I am the landlady here." Miya said, stepping sideways to welcome the teen inside. "Welcome to Izumo Inn, please follow me I will need your identification and you must learn the rules of staying here."

Nodding, Ichigo removed his shoes and closed the door behind him as he entered the what looked to be a dining room with a small table in the center, Ichigo set his bag down and pulled out his Identification and set it down on the table. Miya took a seat and slid the papers towards her position, sifting through the document to ensure they were all in order.

"Ichigo Kurosaki is it, coming to Shinto Teito to study?" Miya said, her ever present smile contrasting Ichigo's constant scowl.

"Yeah, it was pretty sudden. I wasn't really prepared for the big move." Ichigo groaned, taking back his documents as they were handed back to him.

Ichigo could feel Miya's reiatsu, it was clearly captain level but felt strangely repressed or more accurately incomplete. The reiatsu felt was like it was sealed away somewhere, they key now lost. Ichigo silently wondered what gave her such a high amount of reiatsu, he could feel at least three other people besides him living in the building. All three gave him the same feeling as Miya did, though at a far lesser scale in terms of raw power.

Clearing her throat to get Ichigo's attention, she moves on the explain the rules. "In Izumo Inn we have certain rules to be followed here." She said, her smile fading slightly and her gaze hardening. " First, there shall be no sexual activities in the house. Second, there is no fighting allowed inside. Third, You may not dress inappropriately while you are a tenant here. Fourth, there shall be no harsh language in the presence of others while you are here. Finally meal times are fixed if you are late there shall be no food for you, do I make myself clear?"

As Miya finished speaking a dark aura grew around her, the face of a demon became visible as she smiled at him. Ichigo nodded furiously as he fell on his back, the smile reminding him of the captain of the medical division in the soul society. 'Oh god, there are two of them' Ichigo thought, more terrified of Miya's smile than what she would do to him. As suddenly as the demonic face appeared, it disappeared leaving a stunned Ichigo and a smiling Miya sitting at the table.

"Y-Yes ma'am" Ichigo stuttered, sitting up once more and regaining his composure.

"Glad we have come to and understanding. Your room is upstairs down the hall second to the left." Miya said, handing the teen the keys to his room and watching as he collected his bag and went up the stairs.

As Ichigo disappeared from view Miya finally let a hand grip the area above her heart, her body heated up. Miya blushed madly as her breathing became heavy, she released the part of her Kimono that she was gripping and got her breathing under control. 'I just met him yet I'm reacting to him, this is bad. I must control myself around him.' Miya thought to herself as she walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Ichigo unlocked his room door and entered, it was a fairly basic room with a desk and a closet that held the futon and would hold his clothes. Ichigo instantly notice how he had been walking most of the evening and his scent was less than what he considered acceptable. 'Crap, I must have seemed like a slop when I was talking to Miya.' Ichigo though. He quickly stripped himself of his clothes to go get a shower when he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He looked around the room only to find himself alone, shrugging he wrapped a towel around his waist and took walked to the bathroom.

Standing in the shower, the Shinigami though back to when he first obtained his powers and swore to protect the life and afterlife of the innocent. He let the hot water rush over his toned muscles as he remembered the numerous battles he fought and all the opponents he faced, the friends he made along the way and the double life he choose to lead. Although it had only been three years since the fateful day that he gained his powers, it felt like it had been decades. He recalled all the people he met, Rukia, Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Renji, Byakuya, Toshiro, Kenpachi, Byakuya and of course the other captains and vice captains of the Soul Society. Yet he kept having the feeling like he was forgetting someone important to him someone he failed to protect, the image of a smiling girl with spunky purple hair and large amber eyes kept flashing in the back of his mind, yet he could not remember who she was.

Since he had his powers back and went back to school, he had realized how much life has progressed since he began his work for the Soul Society. Students were getting ready to graduate, some were going to get a job in their family business, others were furthering their education like he was. Orihime was going to culinary school, Uryu was going to a college somewhere abroad, Chad was going to Spain to see his family and decide what to do while Ichigo decided that he would go into medicine like his father. Despite how Isshin acted, Ichigo respected the work he did to help the living just as much as he helped the dead.

However, due to his delinquent-like looks, Ichigo found it difficult to get enrolled in a college. Now Urahara was giving him a chance, but knowing Urahara, there was a catch there is always a catch. Sighing, Ichigo stepped out of the shower and dried himself and slipped into some new clothes, a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. HE fished out his cellphone from the bag as well as his Substitute Shinigami combat badge and shoved them into his pockets, seeing as there was still an hour before dinner came and he could get to know the rest of the tenants, Ichigo decided to take a walk to familiarize himself with the area and perhaps get a job knowing the money Kisuke left him would not last long. Knowing how people react to his appearance however might make people hesitant to employ him.

0oTen minutes latero0

Ichigo walked along the lighted streets of Shinto Teito, taking note of where convenience stores, supermarkets, clinics and other locations that could be of use. He even saw some places looking for employees that he might consider working for in the future. Knowing his luck however those places would never even consider hiring him due to his delinquent-like looks.

Reaching a secluded park, which was near pitch black Ichigo decided to head back when the sound of footsteps could be heard behind him. Feeling the powerful reiatsu he held onto his Substitute Shinigami badge and spun around, only to face a strange swordsman, a woman in a tight black leather top, a miniskirt and stockings, over the shoulders she was wearing a grey haori, a Japanese katana hung loosely in her grip as she came into the light provided by a nearby streetlamp. He noticed her long grey hair tied into a ponytail and her grey eyes that made her look exhausted as she noticed him.

"Lovely evening isn't it?" She said, a small smile forming at the sight of Ichigo.

Relaxing his tense muscles Ichigo noted the look in her eyes when he first made contact with them, he saw the same bloodlust in her as he did in Kenpachi or his hollow for that matter. From her stance however she did not look like she was looking for a fight or she wasn't expecting much of a fight from him.

"Yeah, nice and cooling. You always carry a sword like that?"

Ichigo asked, relaxing his shoulders but still keeping his right hand in his pocket where he kept his Shinigami badge, his fingers tightly locked around it. The woman had Reiatsu of at least a captain level, she also had the same type of reiatsu that Miya had.

'Could they be part of whatever Kisuke is telling me to investigate?' Ichigo thought to himself, he did not want to think badly of the woman that was housing him but he couldn't close off that possibility.

"Yes, you never know in these dangerous streets when a fight could break out." She said, Ichigo could see the glint in her eyes as she spoke, the thought of battle exciting her as she spoke of it. "You seem to have an interest in swords, I didn't think you were the type."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Even though I look like a street fighter I use swords a lot more than you think." Ichigo said.

"I'm Karasuba by the way." The woman now known as Karasuba said, her tired grey eyes locked on his amber brown.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, nice to meet you." Ichigo said looking at her seeming constantly smiling face, she had a deadly beauty about her that he could not help but get attracted by as he spoke to her. She was hiding something however, if the sword wasn't proof enough that she was prepared to fight her personality and body language seemed to scream battle.

Turning to go back to Izumo Inn for dinner before it got too late. Looking around the street he was facing only to realize he had been wandering without taking note of how to get back. Rubbing the back of his neck and turning to Karasuba.

"You wouldn't happen to know a place called Izumi Inn would you?" Ichigo asked, slightly embarrassed to ask a complete stranger for directions.

Karasuba smiled at that this would prove a good opportunity to see Miya again. "Actually I do know where it is, follow me." She said as she led the way to Izumo Inn, leading Ichigo through the dim streets of Shinto Teito.

0o Some time later o0

Ichigo began to recognize the street they were travelling along and concluded that they were nearing the inn. "Yo, thanks for help Karasuba-sa…" Ichigo as they neared Izumo Inn Karasuba's grey eyes narrowed as she looked over her shoulder to answer the orange haired shinigami before the blade of a longsword thrust over her shoulder, directly in front of her face.

"I warned you about coming here again Karasuba." Miya said, her tone now serious and her gaze hardening as she gripped the handle of her sword.

"I was just showing your new tenant the way here, wouldn't want him to get lost in the streets now would you? Or is he more than just a tenant here? Knowing the MBI they probably set this up for your special Ashikabi." Karasuba taunted, shifting the gaze of her grey eyes over to Ichigo and back to Miya, her hand reaching for the handle of her blade,

Left speechless of the events that unfolded before him, Ichigo's body felt so heavy that his back hunched over and he raised a hand before any blood was spilt. "Can someone explain what's going on here…"

"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!..." Ichigo didn't get to finish his sentence before the Shinigami Badge in his pocket started shouting at the same time as a massive shadow loomed overhead. Miya and Karasuba looked up only to see what looked like a green skinned reptile with multiple human arms growing out of its back with a skull-like mask made of what looked to be bone jumping overhead, its mouth hanging open as drool dripped over the sides of the mask.

"Oh come on!" Ichigo cried, pushing the Shinigami badge into his chest and letting his body fall backwards as he took on his soul form, he now wore a black Shihakusho thick strap across his chest with four black verticle lines on his forearms and black tattoo-like bands crossing over his chest, wrist and his ankles. A bone like band with white rims covers his neck like a collar guard on his neck. A massive sword almost as tall as he was hung on his back, bandages wrapping around the blade of the sword came undone as Ichigo gripped the handle of the massive blade that now looked like an oversized black cross between a trench knife and a cleaver.

The hollow wasted no time in attacking the Shinigami as its many arms that it used like legs came into contact with the ground, boosting it toward the Shinigami at breakneck speed. Ichigo merely sidestepped the hollow and swung Zangetsu lazily to his side, letting the monster ram face first into the blade, slicing it in half and letting the pieces face into black particles. He expected the two women to think he had fainted when they saw his body fall to the ground, not for them to be staring wide-eyed directly at him, their harsh meeting having been forgotten.

"This is going to be a long evening." Ichigo mumbled as he used his free hand to rub his eyes in frustration.


	3. Chapter 3: The black Swords

Hello everyone Corporal here once more, I was surprised with the amount of support this story has gotten in only two days since its release. The reviews have been very helpful, I hope to receive more in the future.

"Speaking."

'Thinking'

"Zangetsu"

"Hollow"

Ichigo sat cross-legged across from Miya, sweating bullets as Karasuba and Miya glared at each other from their positions at the table inside Izumo Inn both of them smiling as their killer intents clashed with each other, making the air around the room almost as dense as when he fought against the battle-crazed Kenpachi Zaraki . After the hollow was dealt with both Sekirei and Shinigami wanted answers as to what just happened, to the Sekirei it seemed like Ichigo split into two forms, one of these forms wearing a black Shihakusho, black tattoo-like bands across his chest in an X-like pattern while similar bands could also be seen on his wrists, ankles while a black bone-like band with white outlines that acted like a neck guard.

"Ara, Kurasaki-kun while I don't mind you bringing guests…but why is Karasuba here?" Miya asked as she slowly turned her head towards Ichigo, a Hannya mask forming in the cloud of menacing aura behind her.

"Because Miya both of you can see me for some reason despite being human, that shouldn't be possible Miya." Ichigo said, he felt like her smiling face could burn a hole through his very being.

"Alright, I shall start explaining." Miya said, sighing in defeat and letting the aura she was projecting fade. "We are Sekirei, basically we are beings that were found by MBI. There are one hundred and eight Sekirei not including rejected numbers in the third generation, each of us has different abilities, for some it is strength while others use weapons or control elements such as fire, ice or water." Miya explained. Letting Ichigo ponder on what was just said while she waited for him to explain his abilities.

On the other hand, Karasuba was busy staring at the sword on Ichigo's back. He seemed to carry such a large and seemingly heavy weapon with ease, from what she saw he also could wield it as if the blade was an extension of his body. Karasuba felt her pulse speed up, when she flashed the image of the orange haired teen lazily swinging his sword to the side, effortlessly cleaving the monster that attacked them in half as if it was little more than running his blade through water. She felt her temperature rise slowly as she relished in the thought of fighting him, she blushed bright red as she fantasized the area between her legs suddenly felt slightly moist as she imagined slicing his clothing off when she fought him.

'Wait, what am I thinking!' Karasuba thought as she pushed the thoughts to the corner of her mind. It was quite obvious that she was reacting to him. 'Why am I reacting to him? He may be strong but he is still a human, a weak pathetic human!' She thought as she clenched her fist, no matter how much she tried she couldn't push the thoughts of fighting him and the desire to feel the sparks fly from their blades crossing and the even deeper desire to feel his lips on hers.

Karasuba's experiences went unnoticed as Ichigo lowered his head to consult the two parts of his inner world that composed who he really was, Zangetsu and Old Man Zangetsu, the two that in one way or the other guided him along his quest for the strength to protect those close to him. Diving into the inverted city that was his inner world, Ichigo looked around until he found the large park that he had subconsciously constructed when Old-man Zangetsu requested more greenery inside his inner world. The plants however, were nothing Ichigo had ever seen before. Each plant represented an important person in Ichigo's life. Walking through the strange trees, Ichigo spotted a cluster of trees and various plants at the center of the park, this area of plant life represent the most important people that Ichigo has met. He spotted a large tree whose trunk was a smooth pillar of ice, branches grew off the top of the smooth translucent pillar. Uryu's plant was a tree was a tall, skinny tree made of white quartz with blue lines going up the trunk and spreading to each branch. The plant that represented chad was a huge tree with a trunk that split into two in the center of the massive tree, one side was black with red marking going along the length while the other side was while with similar red markings. Orihime's plant was made from bright yellow crystal, the translucent crystal tree had what looked like blue glitter falling off the leaves.

Ichigo spotted Old-man Zangetsu tending to some of the smaller plants and decided to get his attention. "Yo Old-man Zangetsu." Ichigo called, making the embodiment of his sword turn to him in his usual stiff manner, his cloak that looked to be made from black flames billowing in the wind.

"Ichigo, I cant say I didn't expect you Ichigo. To answer your predicament, you should only tell them that you are a special human that guides souls to the afterlife. Tell them that a hollow is a spirit that failed to pass on." Old-man Zangetsu said, already knowing what was going to be asked as he was observing Ichigo from his Inner World. "Fine, I still don't think telling them half-truths like this is good."

Karasuba and Miya watched wide eyed as she looked at Ichigo. Since diving into his inner world, Ichigo had not moved a muscle, his eyes were open but the color had changed. His left eye was normal other than the fact that his iris was glowing blue in color, his right eye had completely black pupil with golden an inhuman iris. Suddenly, Ichigo blinked awake and reverted to his normal state.

"I'll tell you what I am now." Ichigo said, unsurprised by the way the two women were staring at him. "I am what most people call a Shinigami." Ichigo said, releasing a breath in the form of a long sigh. "I guide souls of the dead to the other side. What you saw attacked me was a hollow, a soul that had failed to pass on and lives off devouring the souls of the dead and it is our duty to kill them." Ichigo said, making an expression that could only be referred to as extremely annoyed.

Karasuba and Miya nodded in understanding before Ichigo raised the question. "What is the purpose of Sekirei?" Ichigo asked, curious as to why someone would create such beings.

Miya looked down at the table before finally answering. "The director of MBI Minaka Hiroto hosts a game that forces Sekerei to fight each other for a prize. To gain access to their full power, we must find our destined Ashikabi, these people can wing Sekirei to serve them through exchange of DNA, mostly with a kiss." Miya explained, catching the dumbfounded look on Ichigo's face.

Ichigo's expression switched from shocked to furious, his trademark scowl deepening. "So this bastard Minaka forces you to fight just for his amusement?" Miya nodded at this, her expression changing as the topic was brought up. "I'm going to beat up that bastard Minaka." Ichigo said, watching as the two Sekirei looked speechless. "I'm not letting this guy make women fight each other for his own amusement without facing the consequences." Ichigo growled, rage building up as black reiatsu leaked from his form.

Shocked by the change in attitude Miya decided to occupy herself with something else. "It is almost time for dinner, I suggest Karasuba leave before I come back." Miya said as She got up to leave, her expression now obviously uncomfortable. Karasuba merely smirked, her grey eyes shifting to Ichigo who was sitting across from him, now alone with a woman with blood thirst nearly as bad as Karaki did not bode will as Ichigo got back into his unconscious body that was laying on the floor.

"Why does Miya hate you so much?" Ichigo asked, wanting to find out the reason behind the strain of their relationship.

"You'll find out sooner or later." She said as she smirked at Ichigo as he scratched the back of his head and sat up, he was everything she would have wanted in an Ashkabi, to be strong. Being good looking was a plus, he also seemed very innocent despite his looks. At first she only wanted to see what Sekirei No.1 Miya Asama's destined Ashikabi was like and maybe even kill him if he posed a problem to the MBI. Now that she had seen his power, he proved to be more interesting. Even she was reacting to him now, she felt an uncontrollable urge to take him as her Ashikabi.

"You should probably get going before Miya comes back." Ichigo said, his trademark scoel firmly etched into his face.

"Aren't you going to show me out like a real man does?" She teased as she got up from her position at the table, her tight leather miniskirt exposing more of her than Ichigo was comfortable with.

Ichigo's face turned as red as a strawberry as he turned away, showing his prude nature. This caused Karasuba to grin as she found a way to tease him, a useful tool should she ever meet him again.

"Fine already I'll walk you out." Ichigo grunted as he got up, his scowl returning.

Ichigo walked with Karasuba following close behind, her small ever-present smile giving Ichigo chills down his spine as she followed him. In her mind, she was imagining what a fight against the orange haired teen. Her small smile turned into a maniacal grin as they reached the door

"Yo, you alright Karasuba-san?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow as he saw an expression that would scare the soul out of anyone normal as they reached the dimly lit path outside Izumo Inn.

"Never better." She said as they stopped walking, turning to Ichigo.

The grey haired woman stared into his amber-brown eyes, he bore the eyes of someone that had fought many battles and won, someone that had stared into the face of death and come out victorious. Someone that has sacrificed everything for the power that he possessed. At that moment, her heart rate increased, a blush formed on her face as she stared into his amber-brown eyes.

"Ichigo, you know how Sekirei need to find their 'special person' to fully participate in the plan? So far I haven't found anyone string enough." She said, getting closer to him.

"Yeah, what about it Karasu…hmmph!?" Ichigo said as she grabbed the back of his head and mashed her lips onto his, causing his eyes to widen in shock as ten black pillars appeared on her back. The pillars shattered like a window being struck by a rock as Ichigo felt her reiatsu skyrocket, once the pillars shatters a pair of black wings similar to that of a crow's appeared on her back. Karasuba pulled away from the kiss but still held onto the back of Ichigo's head while the other hand that still sclutched her sword wrapped around his waist and held onto his back .

"This is the pledge of my blade, exterminate the sworn enemy of my ashikabi!" Karasuba recited her Norito as she pulled in and kissed the stunned Ichigo once more, her tounge exploring his mouth with little resistance as Miya burst through the front door to see Ichigo winging Karasuba.

0o Somewhere deep inside Ichigo's Inner world o0

The tall cloaked form of Old-man Zangetsu stared in disbelief as a new tree had formed inside the cluster of trees that were at the heart of Ichigo's inner world, where the plants of all the most important people in his life were assembled.

"Looks like Kingy is finally getting around!" a pale version of Ichigo laughed maniacally as it sat on the branches of a tree above Old-man Zangetsu.

The older Zangetsu only nodded as a tall black tree with what looked to be a symbol of a bird with three Yin-Yang symbols underneath it printed on the bark suddenly formed. The tree had no leaves but on its dead branches hung hundreds of Japanese Katana that were tied to the branches with red thread. What sort of person could so quickly and thoroughly imprint herself into the deepest core Ichigo's soul like this was anybody's guess.


	4. Chapter 4: Black chains and Black Wings

Hello everyone Corporal again, thank you for the support you have offered this fanfiction. I am sorry for the lack of updates, my house is being renovated so I had no internet. I've been using this time to write more so you can have a bunch of chapters to read. Anyways, Chapter 4 : Black chains and Black Wings.

"speaking"

'thinking'

"**Old-man Zangetsu**"

"_**Zangetsu/Hichigo**_"

Chapter 4: Black chains and Black wings.

Ichigo was held in Karasuba's vice-like grip for a what felt like an eternity as she kissed him, the black crow-like wing on her back faded away as she pulled away and released the stunned and confused teen from her iron grip. Ichigo could feel the seal on her reiatsu lift and allowed her access to her full power, she also seemed to be taking the excess reiatsu that he could not suppress in for her own when their lips made contact. Ichigo lost his balance and fell on his backside as he was released ,he looked up to Karasuba who was smiling as she looked back at him, the rising moon behind her bathed her in blue moonlight.

Karasuba had never felt so energized before, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she was winged by Ichigo. She For some reason, kissing Natsuo, her 'place-holder' Ashikabi never gave her the same rush as Ichigo did. This was probably because Ichigo was far more than what a normal human could ever hope to be, much less those scum that ride off the power of their Sekerei like most Ashikabi. Ichigo was unlike any other, he was capable of downing a Sekerei in a single strike and even win the Sekerei game by himself if it was allowed. However to 'Ascend to the heavens' as the mad director of MBI had put it, an Ashikabi mush have a Sekerei to win. That was no longer a problem as Ichigo was an Ashikabi and he had no run of the mill Sekerei, he had Sekerei No. 4 Karasuba 'The Black Sekerei'.

"You are now my Ashikabi and I am your Sekirei, from now on and forever more." Karasuba announced, before the metallic sound of a sword being unsheathed brought Ichigo out of his trance.

Miya charged at Karasuba with her sword aiming to kill the No.4 Sekirei with a single strike. The moment Miya got within striking range she struck sideways with her katana, she raised her sword high above her head and struck downwards. Karasuba on the other hand clearly saw it coming and sidestepped the strike, letting the blade swing harmlessly by her before she did a cartwheel and jumped onto a nearby wall.

"I've never seen you so angry before Miya, did having dear little Ichigo wing me strike a nerve?" Karasuba taunted, an inhumanly huge grin forming on her face that reminded Ichigo a little too much of his inner hollow.

Miya didn't respond, she only charged at Karasuba once more, her made a running dash towards the grey haired Sekirei before jumping to strike to meet the Sekirei with her sword at the ready. Karasuba was still making that psychotic grin as she unsheathed her sword that was hanging loosely in her hand and used it to parry the strike, pushing Miya back to the ground. Miya landed next to Ichigo, as the teen was getting up from where he was sitting.

Karasuba glared at the Miya, her battle crazed grin now fading to a small smirk as she turned her head to look at Ichigo. "I'll see you soon my dear Ashikabi, nothing can break our bond now." Karasuba said as she jumped behind the wall she was standing on, disappearing from view.

Ichigo now stared at Miya, whose back was turned towards him from where she landed after getting pushed back by Karasuba earlier. Ichigo was about to tap her shoulder until she turned to face him, her usual smile adorned on her face as she looked into his shocked eyes. Ichigo had been many things, from the afterlife to even hell, but the smile Miya was wearing on her face and the floating Hannya mask in her cloud of purple killing aura was enough to mentally traumatize a normal person. Regardless, Ichigo decided to the gentlemanly thing as per his nature demanded.

"Yo, sorry about that Miya-san it was really…sudden and…" Miya simply looked back at him, pausing her walk back to the entrance of Izumo Inn.

" Whatever do you mean Kurosaki-kun? Dinner is ready, I want you to meet your neightbours." Miya asked, her Hannya mask floating before Ichigo's very eyes.

"But you just attacked Karasuba for kissin-…" Ichigo tried to interject before a hand reached out and grabbed the Orange-haired teen's face. Everything from his nose down including his mouth was caught in a slowly tightening iron grip belonging to Miya.

"Nothing happened right Ku-ro-sa-ki-kun?" Miya asked, a tick mark appearing on her forhead as she slowly crushed Ichigo's face. Making the teen nod his head as much as he could while in Miya's grip.

"Good, now its time for dinner, you need to get to know the others anyways." Miya said, releasing a terrified Ichigo from her grip and walking back inside with Ichigo following her sheepishly.

Reaching the dining room, Miya opened the door to reveal a small group of people eating together. The first Ichigo noticed was a woman with long brown hair that was wearing a tight-looking purple shirt with short pink sleeves. The second was what he at first thought was a man, but upon looking into 'his' soul Ichigo could not determine his gender properly, the soul was conflicted much like his when he was in conflict with his inner hollow. He had silvery-grey hair and wore a white dress shirt and black dress pants to go along with it, his eye looked bored as he looked at the two figures at the door.

"Hello everyone, this is Kurosaki-kun, He's come to Shinto Teito to study and he's your newest neighbor." Miya said, smiling her casually as if she didn't just loose her mind and attack someone.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, not really interested in making friends with anyone. "Yo, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki nice to meet you." Ichigo said as he sat at the table.

"Hey, I'm Kagari." The man now known as Kagari said, before going straight back to his food. He clearly wasn't really interested in getting to know Ichigo which suited the orange haired teen just fine.

"Hi, I'm Uzume where are your from, is that your real hair color?" The woman sitting next to Miya said, contrary to Kagari she was quite intrigued by the Shinigami asking his various questions before Miya hit her head with a wooden ladle. Uzume gripped the back of her head as she made small whining noises.

"Don't pester your new guest Uzume, he will answer you when he feels like it." Miya said much to Ichigo's relief.

The rest of the meal continued in silence until Ichigo saw Uzume fidget about and began glancing at him, obviously to get answers for the earlier questions. Sighing, the Shinigami decided to break the ice if only to get her to shut up later on.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki and I am eighteen this year, I came to Shinto Teito to study medicine to become a doctor like my father. I come from Karakura town and yes, this is my natural hair color. There happy?" Ichigo said with a sigh, picking up his dirty dishes to wash as he finished.

Uzume merely grinned broadly as she watched him walk off, mumbling something about hats and clogs. She turned to Miya and smiled, her thoughts displayed all over her face as she spoke to the two people that were relaxing at the table.

"Don't you think the new guy is hot?" Uzume said, shifting her sights from Mita to Kagari and back. "Maybe he could be my Ashikabi." Uzume said until she remembered it was Miya she was speaking to about what she considered 'sexual exploits' and those were against the rules. Uzume gripped the back of her head as she expected the wooden ladle to hit her again, only for nothing to come.

Uzume looked up to see a worried yet crest-fallen Miya look back at her. "I'm afraid it would be counter productive for you to do that Uzume. Karasuba already had him wing her." Miya said, watching as Uzume paled and scamper off into a dark corner, holding her knees to her chest as she rocked back and forth, remembering the rumors she heard of 'The Black Sekirei"

Kagari on the other hand seemed to be curious, but not disturbedby the fact that he now lived alongside the Ashikabi of one of the most feared Sekirei in existence. He felt it difficult to imagine that battle-crazed and bloodthirsty Sekerei kissing Ichigo, just picturing Karasuba in an apron like Miya was making him shiver.

'He doesn't look like a bad kisser though, if Karasuba would want him he must be special. Maybe I could-' Kagari mentally slapped himself, he was a guy or at least that was what he wanted to think. He lived a cursed existence, he was unlike any other Sekirei meaning his Ashikabi could be either a woman or man depending on what they preferred, he hated the idea of someone decided who he was to be.

"I'm going to work." Kagari said as he got up and put on a jacket, his job as a host being used to find his destined Ashikabi. "I don't need anyone." Kagari mumbled as he walked through the city streets, given that it was late in the year now winter was making the weather ever colder, soon it was sure to snow.

Meanwhile, Ichigo had been laying on his bed as he stared at the ceiling. He had been going over the event of the day in his mind, being thrown onto a train to go to college by Kisuke, learning of a twisted game where women were being forced to find partners to fight each other. Ichigo closed his eyes as he tried to feel his reiatsu, it felt strangely weaker. Given the sheer amount that he had it would be impossible to fully suppress it like most skilled captains or lieutenants could so he was plagued with being a constant beacon for hollows to come after his soul. Now however it seems that Karasuba though not able to drain his core reiatsu that he kept under lock and key, she was feeding off his excess that he constantly leaked. Whether she knew it or not, she would help him by greatly reducing the amount of hollow he faced.

Finally letting his mind drift off to sleep, he felt his exhaustion from the events of the day be calmed by the sweet relief of sleep until he felt not his bed, but the cold hard surface of glass. Rising up slowly, he noticed the Older Zangetsu before him in his inner world, it was now nighttime and the world was almost pitch black save for the moonlight reflected by the windows and glass in the inverted city.

"Hey, Old-man Zangetsu. Mind explaining why I'm here?" Ichigo said as he rose to his full height, the embodiment of Ichigo's sword merely looked at him and pointed towards the garden that held to collection of plants that represented the people in Ichigo's life.

"**You have a guest, she should be able to explain why she's here.**" Zangetsu said, stalking off to tend to the other plants that were in the massive garden.

"She?" Ichigo said as he scratched his head, walking to the center of the park as he wondered what kind of 'guest' could infiltrate the depths of his inner world. The last person other than the two Zangetsu that was inside his inner world was Muramasa, that did not end well for both parties. However Old-man Zangetsu didn't seem alarmed so he didn't draw his blade, yet.

As he walked down the aisle after aisle of strange plants, Ichigo came t the center of his soul. He then noticed the beautifully deadly tree, he stared in awe at the tree with the Sekirei symbol and the blades that hung red threads from the leafless branches of the dead otherwise dead-looking tree. Only one thought came to mind after he saw this, the dangerously beautiful form of his grey-haired Sekirei, Karasuba. There, he saw her sitting on one of the branches of her own tree the familiar sight of her grey haori and the nodaichi at her side, she seemed to glow under the full blue moon of his inverted inner city.

"If it isn't my dear Ashikabi, surprised to see me?" Karasuba mused as she jumped off the tree, her haori flapping in the wind before finally settling down as she landed in front of the Shinigami.

"Yeah, what happened out there this evening… More importantly, how are you here!?" Ichigo exclaimed, his hand reaching out and grabbing her shoulder to see if she was real.

"When a Sekirei and Ashikabi have found each other, we are inseparable by distance. One way or the other we are connected in mind, body and especially in your case, soul. For ever and ever." She said, wrapping a hand behind his head before leaning in and kissing him, more gently than the first time they kissed, black crow-like wings forming behind her.

Ichigo strangely couldn't seem to pull away although the morally aware part of him screamed at him to stop as Karasuba wrapped her arms around his neck. He grabbed her waist and held her close as they kissed, the two unaware as the tree behind them suddenly burst to life, black and white cherry blossoms began to bloom until all the branches were covered in a flurry of black and white flowers. The flowers scattered as the kiss broke, wind suddenly blew all the flowers away, petals travelled in every direction around the pair as they stared into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, the sun came up and some over the two as they gazed up at it. "Looks like it's time to go." Ichigo said as he stared at the dim light of the rising sun. "Look Karasuba, I know I'm already your Ashikabi but I want to get to know you some more first. Although I have to look for a job too." Ichigo said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Meet me tomorrow at the park where we first met at six." Karasuba said as The sun got even brighter. "Don't be late my young Ashikabi."

Ichigo woke up slowly, raising a hand and running it through his fingers "Well, Time to look for a job." Ichigo said as he got up, trying to push the event in his inner world away.

Meanwhile at the MBI tower, Karasuba woke up and stretched her arms, bringing her knees to her chest. She looked at the small amount of light that got through a gap in to curtains and touched her lips softly with her fingertips. Walking out of the room she was approached by the other two member of the Sekirei disciplinary squad.

"Rare to see you wake up so late." Haihane mumbled, her clawsmaking metallic klinking sounds as she walked.

Karasuba smiled softly as she touched her lips with her fingertips. "I just met someone interesting.." She said as she turned to face them. "Work calls, we need to show some Sekirei their place again." Karasuba said, changing the subject as she went to get ready for the day full of the bloodshed that she relished so much.


	5. Chapter 5: : When swords cross

Hello everyone, Corporal here! Sorry for the low amount of chapters but life happens I guess. I've been moving house and my internet was down for the count. Anyways, I was wondering how old Karasuba really was the other day when I watched a battle that took place 21 years in the past between the disciplinary squad and some army. That would put her age around at least early thirties to late twenties, Ichigo likes older women maybe? Here we go Chapter 5: When swords cross, the wings spread

"Speaking"

'thinking'

"**old-man Zangetsu" **

"_**Hollow Zangetsu/Hichigo" **_

Chapter 5: When swords cross, wings spread

Ichigo walked along snow-covered path on his way home from yet another interview. He had been job hunting for hours with no luck of even getting considered at any place he had asked. He had seen it in their eyes when he was being interviewed, no matter how good his grades are he was absent of late for many classes in his high school years due to his job as a guardian to the afterlife.

'Job huh? I don't even get paid for all the Hollows I kill, given that Rukia gets paid when she takes out a Hollow with a bounty on its head shouldn't I get something for all the crap I that I get put through?' he sighed. 'Instead I get to go job hunting on a snowy say.'

Ichigo sighed as he walked, his breath turning white as it made contact with the freezing air. He was wearing a blue winter jacket with a hoodie attached to the raised collar that his mouth, was were thick black slacks with more pockets than he though were necessary. He walked with his back slightly slouched over and his hands in his pocket in the front of his jacket. His neon-orange hair contrasting everything around him as he walked, his scowl apparent even with his face partially obscured.

The sound of chirping brought the troubled teen out of his thoughts as he straightened his back and looked up to see a pair of birds fly through the sky above him. This brought him to think of his own Sekirei, Karasuba. She was called 'The Black Sekirei' by others for some reason, she seemed nice enough to him but he still saw bloodlust in her dull grey eyes, the lust for battle that Zaraki Kenpachi had. He could see it in her soul when he spoke to her that she had killed before, she never lied to him but she never told him anything as to what she did for the MBI either. She only offered him hints and half-truths that would never have led to him figuring anything out.

Slouching again as his scowl deepened, he walked along the streets of Shinto Teito. He ignored the looks he had gotten from the pedestrians that passed him and glanced at his eye-catching hair and constant scowl that made him look so intimidating. Lowering his gaze to the ground as he continued his walk, he hated being part of something he had little to no control over. His mind wandered to what had happened last night, he remembered the loving yet piercing gaze Karasuba gave him and the promise they made to meet up so he could get some real answers.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice he had already reached the front door of Izumo Inn, damn him and his involvement in the Sekirei plan. Ichigo paused before the door, unsure of what to say to Miya as to why he wasn't staying for dinner. He couldn't just say he was going to see Karasuba alone in a dark, secluded park in the evening could he? Then again why hide it, he was already her Ashikabi and she had already made him apart of the sick twisted game that was the Sekirei plan. For some reason he was trying to make an excuse to see someone that he knew he had to see at some point soon.

"Damn it all, I feel like punching someone preferably someone wearing a bucket hat and with wooden clogs on." The orange haired teen mumbled as he stepped inside only to be greeted by a smiling Miya, her lavender hair falling as she tilted her head.

"Ara, Kurosaki-kun how was the search for a job?" She asked, taking a pause from her walk though the inn.

"Not good, everyone thought I was some punk delinquent despite what my grades in school showed." Ichigo said, his scowl deepened as he took off his jacket.

"It's alright, I'm sure there will be someone that will take you despite your…unusual looks Kurosaki-kun." Miya said, her smile genuine as she straightened her head and locked her eyes with the teen.

Ichigo huffed in response until he remembered what he needed to do. "Look, Asama-san I won't be here for dinner tonight." Ichigo said, hoping that she could leave it at that but of course, no such luck for Ichigo Kurosaki.

Miya tilted her head in a questioning manner that reminded him of Captain Unohana back in the Soul Society, a woman scary enough to make the bloodthirsty Captain Kenpachi Zaraki yield yet look innocent doing it. Miya however had a terrifying demonic mask to show for it rather than the more innocent approach that Unohana went for.

Ichigo gulped audibly as she walked even closer to the teen felt front door hit his back as he slowly backed away from the demonic aura, his inner hollow laughing at the spectacle somewhere in the dark reaches of his mind.

"To see…Karasuba… and get some answers." Ichigo said, sweating even in the cold months of winter as Miya's menacing aura intensified. 'Definitely similar to Unohana.' Ichigo thought as he looked at the terrifying landlady.

"Do not believe everything she says all right?" Miya said, her hannya mask still floating in her sea of purple killing intent. "You may be her Ashikabi now but that doesn't mean she is completely on your side."

Ichigo snapped out of his terrified mindset and shifted to his years of experience with deceit by those he thought he could trust, like Kokuto when he was literally dragged to the hell to save his sister Yuzu. Ichigo nodded sharply before he turned to leave, Miya giving him a worried look as he put on his shoes and turned to leave. Noticing the face Miya was making , the Shinigami turned to to face his worried landlady.

"Don't worry its not like I'm a loved one going out to a war…"Ichigo was about to say when he thought back to the abilities that Sekirei had and his involvement in the plan. "Nevermind… I'll keep my badge close to my chest." Ichigo said, making Miya nod as he left.

0o Meanwhile o0

"Karasuba had just cleaned the blood off her blade after she had finished terminating a Sekirei that had attempted to leave Shinto Teito with her Ashikabi, who was now being taking away by Minaka's MBI underlings.

"She wasn't cut up as badly as usual…" The usually silent Haihane commented on Karasuba's leniency on the 'punishment' this time.

"Yeah, you aren't as brutal as usual, being the MBI's 'Mad Dog' and all." Benisubasa said with a disappointed sigh.

Karasuba had been in a good mood since the night before when she said she 'met someone interesting' so far even fighting strong opponents did not put her in the mood she was in. Which had brought about many interesting topics on what had happened last night with Haihane, some were logical but giving Karasuba's personality were impossible such as finding herself a worthy opponent other than Miya, others were downright insane like she pulling a guy off the street and getting laid. In the end the two could not come up with anything concrete leaving only one other possibility, she had finally found her true Ashikabi.

Haihane and Benisubasa merely looked at one-another with wide eyes shifted their gaze to Karasuba who was now walking away, if they voiced out their realization they would not likely be cut down on the spot. They both looked to the darkening sky as they retreated with the rest of the MBI agents, not daring to ask Karasuba where was she going out of fear for ruining her mood and have her cut them up instead. 'Just what kind of Ashikabi could she react to?' They both thought as they cast a look back at the shrinking form of Karasuba walking down the street. At that moment she realized they just couldn't handle the suspense and cast a look at each other.

"Let's follow her." Benisubasa said, her words soft but laced with curiosity.

"What if she catches us, plus I have a TV show I want to catch…" Haihane mumbled, her eye that was not hidden behind her unruly mane of short ash-grey hair darting from her friend to Karasuba.

"Then don't let her catch us, and get someone to record the damn show for you! Don't you want to know who her destined one is!?" Benisubasa near shouted, her hotheaded personality showing.

Haihane mumbled before they both jumped to a nearby roof and tailed Karasuba at a relatively safe distance.

0o Meanwhile o0

"Where the hell is she!?" A frustrated Ichigo groaned, it was half past six and he was still waiting for Karasuba.

The sky was getting dark as Ichigo Kurosaki sat or more so leaned on a bench while waiting in the dark secluded park close to Izumo Inn, the bench was illuminated by what looked to be the only functional streetlight in the park. Ichigo scowled even deeper than his default scowl when the sound of footsteps could be heard from the paved lane to the side of him.

"It isn't polite to keep someone waiting when you are the one that asked them to come over." Ichigo said as Karasuba stepped out of the shadows, he hoari flapping in the winter wind and her tied hair seemed to drift along just as easily.

"Oh, I thought it was normal for one party to be late in arriving to a date." Karasuba said as a small smile graced her lips and her otherwise amused if not tired looking eyes.

"T-This isn't a date, I just want answers for all this. You and Miya-san weren't telling me everything." Ichigo said, an irritated scowl now on his face that almost hid the list blush on his face.

Karasuba merely stared at him, taking in the features of her newfound Ashikabi with her dull grey eyes.

"Everything has a price my dear Ashikabi-chan." Karasuba smiled as she sat down next to Ichigo on the park bench.

Ichigo groaned before finally giving up with a sigh. "Fine, name it." He said as he released a long breath.

Karasuba merely grinned in her own psychotic way before she grabbed hold of Ichigo's right arm, making the neon-orange haired teen turn as red as a strawberry. She suddenly threw Ichigo over her head, sending the strawberry flying over the pavement and into the cold pavement. Being in his human body he couldn't avoid the ground as he could in his soul, his landing making an audible crunch that meant something was damaged in the fall.

"The hell!" Ichigo shouted as he gripped his shoulder, luckily nothing was broken but his shoulder was definitely dislocated and there was a nasty gash from where his skin scraped against the gritty surface of the pavement.

"Thought you could avoid that one, now show me what you're made of my little Ashikabi. " Karasuba said as she crouched down slightly and gripped the handle of her blade.

She honestly expected Ichigo to land on his feet, hurting her Ashikabi made her wince in pain. However it was unavoidable if she was to gauge his worth to her. The only way being to force it out of him the only way she knew was effective thus far, almost killing them.

Ichigo grabbed his Subsitute Combat Badge and pressed it against his chest, letting his body fall to the ground in a motionless heap. Karasuba grinned as she charged forwards, pulling her sword from it's sheath as soon as she thought she was in range, only to have her target disappear right before her blade hit his chest. Without thinking, Karasuba spun around just in time to block the massive trench knife that was Ichigo's sword. The force was enough to blast her back several meters before her back slammed into a tree, smashing through the trunk in a shower of splinters and wooden debris only to go through another three similarly large trees and finally skidding to a stop at a grassy plain that overlooked a small lake.

Through the path she had made though the park with her body, Karasuba saw Ichigo with his sword held downwards in his grip as he hadn't moved from where he had struck her blade. The next moment he was in the clearing that she had landed in, the massive blade resting across his shoulders as his usual scowl graced his face. The grey-haired Sekirei watched as her vision was stained red, raising a hand t her forehead she wiped off some blood that was dripping from where some of the wood had grazed her skin. Her vision grew blurry as she watched Ichigo's expression change from scowling to worried. He began running toward her as she swayed and hit the grassy floor, a smirk slowly crept to her face as she felt her body being lifted off the ground. The managed to lift her head to see Ichigo who was now carrying her, his bright orange hair glowed in the moonlight and his concerned yet intense brown eyes looking ahead.

"My destined one… I've finally found you." Karasuba muttered before she passed out in Ichigo's arms.

0o Meanwhile on a rooftop nearby o0

Kagari, better known as Homura in his current attire of a black trench coat and a mask of bandages stood on a roof that overlooked the park stood shocked at the spectacle of what he at first thought was his gruff looking neighbor get thrashed by Karasuba. Only to take on a other form and in a display nothing short of amazing, completely overpower and outrun 'The Black Sekirei' in a matter of ten seconds flat.

He had come only to look out for Ichigo after overhearing his conversation with Miya, he was about to save his vulnerable neighbor when the tides turned. Now he saw the orange haired teen run to the unconscious Sekirie and lift her up, evidently he never intended to use that much power in one attack.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, You are going to be interesting to watch in these opening stages." Homura mumbled as he disappeared in a flash of fire.

0o Meanwhile on a street nearby o0

"How could you lose her!?" Benisubasa shouted in frustration, her companion following closely behind.

"You were the one that wanted to follow her…" Haihane mumbled.

The two managed to tail Karasuba but got lost her amidst a crowd of people she all but disappeared into. Since then they had been unable to locate where the Sekirei had gone. They were now in a large but empty road on a cold, snowing winter night with no idea as to what to do until they spotted a tall teenager with bright orange hair in a blue winter jacket and long black pants. More notable he held a wounded Karasuba cradled in one arm, her body resting on his chest as his other arm dangled limply at his side, the large, bleeding gash visible through the tear in the jacket as the ran across from the street they were walking on.

Looking at each other, they sprinted to follow the boy, keeping a safe distance yet not staying too far now.

0o With Ichigo o0

'I knew I shouldn't be fighting so soon after getting my powers back, I can barely control my strength! She's lucky she isn't exactly human or she would be dead by now!' Ichigo thought as he carried Karasuba, he was now in his human body so he could get the unconscious Sekirei to a hospital.

He cradled Karasuba as blood leaked from her head, he winced slightly as he tried to move his arm. He barely got a twitch from his limb as he spotted blood rush down his sleeve. He kept running down the cold, abandoned streets.

'Come on where is the nearest hospital!?' Ichigo thought as he ran down the street, drops of blood in his wake as he ran through the streets.

Finally reaching the safety of a hospital, he had been immediately tended to by the doctor that spotted the bleeding teen stagger through the door of the hospital and pass out. The last thing he remembered was the cold marble floor of the hospital and the concerned voice of the doctors and nurses.

0oLatero0

Ichigo opened his eyes to stare up at the while ceiling of the hospital room he was in, turning his head to look around he first noticed his arm was bandaged. He found his dislocated shoulder had been pushed back in. Moving it however hurt like hell, looking around the room however made him notice that there was another bed that looked to be occupied recently but the patient had left. Wincing as he got up, he noticed something warm was wrapped around his good arm.

'The hell?' Ichigo thought as he pulled off the covers, only to be greeted by Karasuba holding onto his arm. Her head was bandaged but she still had her normal clothes on, indicating she had woken up and snuck under his covers some time ago.

"Hey, wake up! This is a hospital, we shouldn't be doing this!" Ichigo nearly yelled, his face turning red as he blushed. 'First she tries to kill me, now she clings to me. Cant anything in my life be normal!?' He thought as a looked down at Karasuba again.

"She is cute when she doesn't try to kill me though…" Ichigo mumbled unconsciously, he mentally slapped himself when he realized what he was saying. 'No! I cant protect anyone from this stupid game Minaka has planned if I start acting like a this!'

Groaning slightly, Ichigo looked up to see someone had entered the room. A doctor he guessed from the coat he was wearing and the clipboard under his arm.

"Hello mister Kurosaki, how are you feeling today?" The doctor asked, not looking up from the clipboard in his hand.

"Fine other than how much my arm hurts." Ichigo groaned, the doctor must have found his ID from the looks of it.

"You and your lover here gave the receptionist quite a fright walking in the way you did last night. What happened to you if I may ask?"

Ignoring the comment about their relationship, Ichigo merely grunted. "Fell down a hill." He lied, after three years of secretly being a Shinigami he had learned to lie through his teeth without much effort.

"Right, well there's someone here that would like to see you." The doctor said as he left the room, leaving behind a puzzled Ichigo and a sleeping Karasuba still attached to his arm.

'Who could be…' Ichigo thought until the door to his ward opened revealing Miya, clad in her shrine maiden outfit and her hands clasped in front of her skirt. Upon seeing he position he and Karasuba were in, a mist of killing intent of slowly released when she smiled. Ichigo paled as she slowly walked closer to his bed, her hannya mask floating behind her as she walked.

"Nice to see you alive and well after your accident I-chi-go-chan." Miya said, her smile constant and dark making the teen break into cold sweat.

"Now tell me what did I say about Karasuba and explain Why are you with her like that." Miya said, clouding Ichigo's vision with her purple mist.

0o Meanwhile in MBI headquarters o0

"HAHAHA! Fascinating development indeed!" The mad director of MBI, Minaka Hiroto laughed while staring up into the ceiling of his office while spinning around on his chair.

Upon hearing the report of Ichigo and Karasuba from Benisubasa and Haihane, the director of the pharmaceutical company that practically owned Shinto Teito burst into hysterical laughter before looking up all he could on this Ichigo character. Imagine his surprise when he found himself denied access to the majority of those details by a powerful security program.

"The Black Sekirei and the Ashikabi of death, all that are part of this game must know of your unity! This is getting more interesting by the day!" The madman shouted before his was knocked to the ground by a clipboard that was thrown by his secretary.


	6. Chapter 6: Feathers of Ash

Hey everyone Corporal here again, as for the questions that I had received in the last few chapters. This story will be a harem while Ichigo's main Sekirei will still be Karasuba. The harem candidates are : Karasuba, Miya, Haihane and possibly Akitsu. I'm having some problems with Haihane's personality since she doesn't get very much screen time.

"Speaking"

_"Thinking"_

_**"Zangetsu/Hichigo"**_

**"Juha Bach/Old man Zangetsu"**

Chapter6: Feathers of Ash

It had been a week since Ichigo had been admitted to the hospital, Karasuba had been discharged nearly three days ago while he had been stuck staring at a pristine white room day after day. On the bright side, Miya and Karasuba had visited him every day while he was stuck there they would continue to do so until he was clear to be discharged in another three days.

_"Damn it, I can't take it anymore! If I have to see anymore of this damn white ceiling it's gonna drive me insane!" _Ichigo thought as he pulled himself off the hospital bed and made for his clothes that were neatly folded in the corner of the room.

In truth the influence on his training in his soul form had an impact on his human body as well, passive abilities such as slightly accelerated healing, an increase in stamina, speed and durability had also been increased as well. While his shoulder had healed over nealy two days ago, he stayed hospitalized to avoid suspision among the hospital staff as to why the orange-haired teen with a nearly shattered shoulder just heal over the course of just few days.

"Hey you aren't supposed to be discharged yet!" a voice from behind Ichigo said.

Just as Ichigo had finished switching to his clothes, a nurse walked in on him. She was a woman of average height with shoulder length brown hair with large brown eyes, she wore the standard nurse garb and was holding a clipboard under her arm. Seeing the patient she was supposed to check on preparing to leave, she quickly walked to the teen and confronted him. Ichigo let an exasperated sigh as he saw the nurse approach him and prepared to speak with the woman.

"Look my shoulder feels fine, I just needed some time to rest and I'm good as new." Ichigo said as he swung his once injured arm around to prove his point. _"That and the fact that I'm running low on cash, if I don't find a job soon I may be in trouble."_

The nurse stared at him for afew more seconds before finally letting out a sigh in defeat. "Fine but take care of yourself." The nurse said as she let the teen pass her.

Before Ichigo walked out of the door of his hospital room, he turned to the nurse once more to ask a final and most dreaded question. "Oh yeah, how much do I owe you?" The teen questioned, as he turned on his heel to face the nurse.

"What do you mean, your uncle already settled the bill." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that, he didn't have any other relatives other than his dad and sisters. "Well, living relatives really" He thought as he remembered his cousins Kukaku and Ganju Shiba.

"A Mister... Kisuke Urahara." The nurse said as she glanced at her clipboard. This made Ichigo pause for a moment, Kisuke paying for him meant that he was being watched the whole time and didn't do anything.

"Thanks..." Ichigo said as he grit his teeth and walked out the door and finally get back to Izumo Inn.

"If Uzume touched my stuff I swear I'll let her meet Zangetsu..." Ichigo grumbled as an irritated scowl graced his features, making the hospital staff around his shuffle away from his path and line of sight.

The young Vizard was so lost in thought that he barely noticed a young man only slightly older than himself wearing an elaborate white suit over a white shirt and a black tie to complete his crisp and clean look. The young man turned around to watch the retreating form of Ichigo before turning back to the hospital corridor. While he owned many hospitals that MBI already did not, this one held one of his most prized assets, his leverage on No.10 Uzume her dear and deathly ill Ashikabi, Chiho.

"Perhaps I'll find a use for you someday if I can get around your mad Sekirei, Ichigo Kurosaki." The man said to no one in particular as he continued walking through the hospital corridor.

His plans to take over MBI would go far more quickly if he could get on the good side of the younger Ashikabi, however his record of violence in his highschool life was more than enough to prove that this new player in the Sekirei game was the type to suspect anyone that approached him. Thus, tricking or manipulating him would be extremely difficult at best, completely impossible at worst.

"Now then, how is dear Chiho coming along?" He mused as he continued on his way.

o0 Some time later 0o

Ichigo stood at the front of Izumo Inn, never had he need more happy to go back to a place so full of strange people before. Opening the front door and discarding his shoes before stepping onto the tatami mat floor of the inn, the Vizard could hear the telltale sound of Miya sweeping the yard as she usually did during this time of the day.

_"Should probably tell Miya that I'm home." _ Ichigo thought as he rounded a corner and made his way to the yard, fully expecting his smiling landlady sweeping the yard.

"Hey Miya I'm..." Ichigo cut himself off as he saw an unfamiliar girl with a broom in hand, sweeping the yard as Miya would usually do.

She was a fair-skinned young woman of average height and slender build. She had a very developed and curvaceous body with a slim waist somewhat flared hips. She had brown eyes and a brown hair done up in hime-styled with short bangs, chin-length strands surrounds her head and framing her face she had a strange single antenna-like strand of hair that hung just above her head, and hip-length hair at the nape of her neck.

"Um... Who're you?" Ichigo asked, seeking to turn the girl's attention away from her humming and sweeping to find out who was she and what was she doing here.

"Mususbi is Musubi, Who're you, do you live here too?" She asked excitedly as she turned to face this new face, she didn't appear hostile at least to him, she did however seem slightly gullible and exciteable to say the least.

"So you're a new tenant?" Ichigo asked, slightly surprised at how quickly that someone had already started living here the week he was absent.

"Yeah, Musubi lives here with her Ashikabi Musubi is a Fist-type ..." The girl began before a blur of white shot by Ichigo's head and a hand covered her mouth.

Thewhite blur turned out to be a slim young man with messy black hair, gray eyes, almost always wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He looked about what you would expect from an average Japanese guy, other than the fact that he was covering Musubi's mouth with his hands.

"E..erm..She mean we're close! Sorry about that but Musubi doesn't always know what she's saying!" The young man said nervously as he made a short bow.

"Right..." Ichigo said with a sigh, he had seen hollows, the afterlife, hell and beings that held godlike powers, he couldn't be surprised at another Sekirei popping out of the woodworks. "So let me guess..you're another Sekirei participating in this sick game and that guy is your Ashikabi."

From the shocked look he got from the black haired man and the... excited? Look he gained from Musubi it seemed pretty obvious that he had struck home on his 'guess' . Extending his hand toward the two, the teen decided to jet the two out of their trance and introduce himself to his new neighbours.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki 18 years old and going to Shinto colledge as of next month." He said, still holding his hand out to the pair as they snapped out of their trance.

"I-I'm Minato Sahashi!" the man now known as Minato said quickly as he shook Ichigo's hand and made another bow.

"So you have a Sekirei !? Where is she and when do I get to fight her?" Musubi asked excitedly, not realizing that she was interrupting the exchange of greeting between her Ashikabi and the orange haired teen.

"She can't be around that often, her name is Karasuba." Ichigo explained as he turned to the overexcited Sekirei.

"Your Karasuba-sama's Ashikabi? She's really strong, Musubi can't fight her yet but Musubi will get stronger!" The Sekirei happily declared as she bounced on her heels, not noticing Miya walking up behind Ichigo with a basket of ingredients and her usual smile.

"Ara ara, looks like you met your new neighbours." Miya said as she walked beside Ichigo on the porch.

"Hey Miya, I'm back." Ichigo said, turning his head to his landlady.

"My, Ichigo you're back already? Since you're back Why don't you go call the others down for lunch?" Miya said, retreating back into the dining room to set the table.

o0 Meanwhile at MBI headquarters 0o

Haihane sat on a couch that faced a large window overlooking the city in MBI tower, sitting beside her Karasuba busied herself with cleaning her nodaichi while Bentsubasa sat on the ground and ate her snacks. Being a Sekirei that uses physical combat, Benitsubasa usually ate alot to stay active. Though Haihane understood this was part of a fist-type Sekirei's biology, it didn't stop her from teasing the pink-haired Sekirei. Haihane was the second memeber of the Disciplinary squad she had a slender figure that was always bandage-wrapped and covered by a tattered dark kimono, she had a head of disheveled grey hairand wore a studded choker her narrow eyes gave her a wicked, daunting appearance. Even though she appears dark or gothic, she loves poking fun at Benitsubasa's less endowed figure and her fruitless efforts to attract the attention of their homosexual Ashikabi.

Benitsubasa on the other hand had the appearance of a cheerful, younger teenager though her appearance doesn't reflect her personality as she is short-tempered, unlike Haihane who's always calm and has fun teasing Benitsubasa. Oftentimes the topic of her teasing was her small breasts and her fruitless attempts at gaining the love of her Ashikabi.

" You'd think that with all the food you eat you would have grown a little." Haihane teased as stiffened a giggle. 

"Natsuo-sama doesn't even like top heavy bimbo's so bite me!" Benitsubasa retorned as she turned her head to glare at Haihane while the other Sekirei burst into laughter.

"Natsuo is a homo...haa.." Haihane said as her laughter finally relented, though she appeared daunting her laughter prone personality and tendency to tease others damn near to tears said otherwise.

"Speaking of Ashikabi's... it must be nice to have an Ashikabi that cares for you..." Haihane mumbled, eyeing Karasuba who only smiled lightly but didn't bother turning her head to face the two jealous Sekirei.

While Benitsubas quickly went back to her snacks, Haihane looked to the window once more, watching the city lights as if at any moment they would dissapear. Her thoughts wandered to the Orange haired Ashikabi that held Karasuba so tightly in his arms while running through the city on a cold winter night, it just seemed so romantic. With a sigh she brought her knees to her chest and curled into a ball, while her Ashikabi never abused his Sekirei like other less than favourable Ashikabi, he still doesn't really care for them.

_"Just what did the orange-head do to get a cold blooded killer like Karasuba to love him?" _ Haihane thought as her eyes focues on the Shinto Tower, while she knew many Sekirei feel strongly for their Ashikabi, Karasuba was different.

Even after she had been winged by Natsuo, their bond was weak at best and non-existent at worst. Even after a kiss with Natsuo, Karasuba would receive only a small amount of power due to her loving bloodshed more than Natsuo. This Ichigo Kurosaki however was different, when Minaka sent a text to all Ashikabi Karasuba had a small blush on her face and her hand would raise to her chest to steady her heart. While most people would not notice this, the other two member of the disciplinary squad immediately took notice to the change in her behavior, she looked more like a worried wife whose husband was off to war.

From the photos and videos that had been captured by the many camera's that MBI had set up around the city Haihane could see that he looked handsome and tall, he had a head of strangely natural orange hair and due to his mother who had some German ancestry. While his gruff and thug-like looks were one thing to take into consideration his intentions and personality said otherwise, almost every day he would stop a potential rape, beat out some muggers or even stop an armed robbed or two. A misunderstood hero as Haihane understood when he saw him comfort a woman who was nearly raped. With she had reacted to him, her heart rate soared and her temperature rose nearly instantly. That was what she wanted, an Ashikabi that would protect her in his strong and protective embrace, yet he would offer love and care to her when she would need it.

"I need him...I...want him." Haihane mumbled as she brought her knees even closer to her chest and covered the lower half of her face.

Though she didn't know why she never acted like this with Natsuo, she knew exactly why she reacted to this new Ashikabi. _"I want to meet him, why does he have to live with No.1! It makes seeing him alone so hard!"_ Haihane thought as she silently glared at the city once more.

_"I'm going to see him tomorrow... I will."_ The blue Sekirei thought as she stood up and left for bed.

o0 Meanwhile at Izumo Inn 0o

"Hah..Choo!" Ichigo sneezed as he cleared the plates at the dinner table, almost dropping the plate the was holding.

"Careful Ichigo, wouldn't want to get sick right after getting out of the hospital." Miya said as she poked her head out of the kitchen to see if he was alright.

"Yeah, thanks Miya-san." Ichigo said as he raised a hand over his shoulder in thanks.

_"Is someone talking about me?"_ ichigo thought, however his lack of belief in superstition made him just wave the matter off.


	7. Chapter 7: A Frozen Moon

Hey everyone Corporal here, since the last chapter there were some people who disagreed with the Harem candidates so I had to switch some around. Anyways on other news I'll be posting a chapter once or twice every two weeks from now on unless I'm really busy with college or work. So, here are the new harem candidates: Karasuba, Haihane, Akitsu, Kazehana possibly Homura or Miya depending on how these characters are received. I don't think Miya will be included due to the fact that she already has such a huge following among the Bleach/Sekirei crossover universe.

"Speaking"

_"Thinking"_

_**"Zangetsu/Hollow"**_

**"Old man Zangetsu/ Juha Bach"**

Chapter 6: A Frozen Moon

Ichigo walked along a dimly lit path with his famous scowl gracing his features, this didn't mean he was upset however. On the contrary, he was actually happy that he had managed to land a job somewhere decent... or at least mostly decent, is new job was actually to wait tables at a nearby restaurant and bar, while the would not have been anything unusual the precise nature of how he would work was what irked him, the place he worked was a restaurant where the waiters were dressed as butlers or maids. What this meant was he would be forced to dress up like some weird man-servant and act all courteous, including smiling for the customers.

With a sigh he pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his thick winter jacket, as he thought back to his 'Interview' with his future boss.

o0 three hours ago 0o

"Next!" a woman said with a sigh as she leaned back on her large leather chair and pressing her palm against her forehead and over her eyes.

Her name was Misaka Hiraka, her shoulder-length black hair that framed her face and her large black eyes gave her a cute appearacnce, while the maid uniform simply added to that effect. This pushed her to work at a maid cafe after graduating out of highchool , she had intended to work just long enough to pay for college on account of her mother being a frail woman who couldn't work and her father had passed when she was a child. However since she had made manager by the end of her first year she had decided to stay and become a branch mananger for the restaurant.

Since she was rather new to the position she had been trying to learn the ropes of managing the everything from delegation of duties performed by the staff to general behaviour and customer comment. This unfortunately led to many problems, including some of the staff quitting, the main cause being that the customers oogling over them and sneaking pictures of them out of the restaurant. By Misaka had thought that

"Hey, Hiraka-san right? I saw the ad in the newspaper." A gruff but youthful voice called out to her, in her mind she pictured another fat, desperate nerd who wanted to work here only to hit on her or another waitress.

"Yeah...so whaaa...?" Misaka slurred as she removed her hand from her forehead to gaze up at what looked to the be the living embodiment of a manly yet handsome young man was.

The man wore a simple black T-shirt that seemed to hug his well toned body and a pair of cargo pants, in his hand he carried blue winter jacket that he had taken off due to the fact that the interior of the restaurant was heated and under his other arm he carried a large an envelope. The most striking feature was his head of bright neon orange hair and his warm yet hard amber brown eyes.

Shaking her head to get out of her trance, Misaka immediately tried to act natural while hoping that he didn't notice her checking him out. "Y-yes of course, may I see your documents?" She said, holding her hand out while the Ichigo handed her his details.

o0 Present 0o

Just like that Ichigo had gotten the job, he suspected the 'fitting' of his butler's uniform was more for his boss to check him out than to check if it fit him. Sighing to himself as he walked along the darkened path, the teen had unconsiously walked to the park that he first met his Sekirei, Karasuba. The moment he thought of his Sekirei his near-permanent scowl softened to more of a longing gaze. After a moment of staring into blank space, his scowl returned and he continued to make his way to Izumo Inn.

Upon reaching the spot where he had sat with Karasuba during their 'play date', the orange haired Vizard almost immediately felt the temperature of the air drop. It reminded Ichigo of standing next to Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya when his Lieutenant was slacking off, in short he was sure that the moisture around him was near the point of freezing.

"Who the hell could..." Ichigo near cursed as he walked toward the park bench, his brain nearly shut down at the sight that greeted him.

The teen caught sight of a feminine frame sitting on the bench with her knee's brought to her chest, the girl had light brown hair and appeared a year or so older than him. The three things that struck him the most was her slate grey eyes, she eyes were empty and broken. The second thing being...she was practically naked! She wore nothing but a blood stained lab coat with no buttons down the centre of the coat, the last and probably most important feature was a red crest on her forehead. The crest consisted of a bird with several yin-yang like symbols underneath it, Ichigo had immediately regocnized this symbol that he had seen so many times on Karasuba's back.

Carefully approaching the Sekirei, he noticed that under the dim light how depressed and miserable she looked. If his idiot for a father had thought him any moral. It was that a woman in pain should never be left alone, much like how his father had temporarily sacrificed his shinigami abilities to save his mother, Ichigo was determined to help this Sekirei out.

"Hey, you alright?" Ichigo asked as he took a knee in front of the Sekirei, making sure her eyes met his as he spoke. The Sekirei raised her head to meet his amber brown eyes, her voice seemed barely a murmur and her actions seemed so slight and scared, a sight that Ichigo was sure should never befall a girl.

"I can't be winged, the augmentation didn't work...I'm broken...Useless." She said as she looked back down to the ground with a depressed look on her face.

"You know...instead of dwelling on the past..." Ichigo said, remembering his sword's words to him when he was trained by Zangetsu.

Scratching the back of his head, Ichigo thought back to the important word that Zangetsu had told him back. "Abandon your fear and look forward, never stop. You'll age if you pull back, you'll die if you hesitate." Ichigo said, trying his best to sound comforting to the girl.

"I'm Ichigo by the way, Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo said, extending a hand to the near naked Sekirei.

"Ichigo... The one protector..." The Sekirei mumbled, not paying attention to the fact that the teen had a relieved look on his face, not many people got the real meaning of his name instead of calling him a fruit.

This seemed to work, the Sekirei pitched her head up to face him and stare into his intense eyes. Ichigo had felt like he had gotten through to the Sekirei when a mocking yet child-like voice greeted him. A voice that the girl seemed to recognize as she tensed up at the sight of him.

"Why hello there, I must thank you for finding my dear Akitsu she has such a habit of...losing her way." the voice said, the emotions were laid too heavily to be genuine.

The boy was little more than about fifteen years old, he wore a strange form of formal wear worn by the British back in who the hell knows when. His attrite and speech seemed to scream that he was a spoiled rich kid that got anything he wanted whenever he wanted, only in this case the boy was hunting Sekirei. A deep feeling of hatred began to boil at the base of Ichigo's heart as he fixed his gaze on the offending teenager. Next to the teen, A young man with messy silver hair and a pair or sharp grey eyes stood, judging my his odd clothes consisting of a a black shirt and crisscrossing leather bands that held the open front of his shirt he reminded Ichigo of himself in his bankai. While his neck and shoulders were covered by a strange yellow scarf and on his hands he wore a pair or fingerless gloves, the only distinguishing feature Ichigo bothered to pay much attention to was the Katana strapped to his waist.

"Oh...is that right? who are you to her kid?" Ichigo asked in a steadily more aggressive tone, making the boy visibly hesitate a little. While nearly every Ashikabi knew of how Karasuba now traded in Natsuo for this new character, little was known of what made her want to be his Sekirei.

"I'm someone who wants her very badly... dear Akitsu means a lot to me you know?" The teen said with his smug and confident rich-boy attitude.

Ichigo noticed that the 'broken' Sekirei had raised her head to look at the boy, her eye held a glimmer of hope born from the obvious lies this boy was spouting. She wanted to mean something, to be wanted and cared for.

_"But not like this, not to the likes of this bastard." _Ichigo thought as his Infamous scowl deepened, giving his a more intimidating look as he glared at the teen.

"Well, how unfortunate that it had to come to his Kurosaki-san." The boy said with an exagerrated sigh, with a wave of his hand the young man standing next to the boy leaned forwards and placed his hand on the sword that was strapped to his waist..

Upon hearing the less than sincere apology, Ichigo brought tightened the grasp he had on his substitute badge that he had kept in his jacket in case of a hollow attack or in this case an attack from a spoiled Ashikabi and his Sekirei. As Ichigo bent his knees in preparation for the incoming attack, his attention snapped back to Akitsu who was staring at the spectacle before her with mild interest as she had never seen a human face off against a Sekirei without an fear before.

_"His face... it doesn't belong to that of a boy... It's so serious...like a veteran of a war. " _Akitsu thought to herself as she looked at the young Ashikabi as helowered his stance to brace against the inevitable contact.

As Akisu watched the intense stare down as to try and tell how one or the other were to react, she couldn't help but notice how protective this orange haired Ashikabi was of her. _"I never met him before yet...he wants to help me..he wants to... protect me? Me, a broken number that cannot be winged"_

Akitsu thought as she pressed a hand over her naken chest as to ease her racing heart and calm her soaring temperature. "Have I found you..my Ashikabi?" The Sekirei mumbledas she looked into the Orange haired teen's intense amber brown eyes.

The at the same moment a whole different set of thoughts were raging inside Ichigo's mind as tension seemed to build up in the air like spirit pressure whenever a captain was releasing his bankai. _"I can't get in my sould form or bosy gets cut and even if I could the angle this guy is about to swing from will hit Akitsu, why do these situation always find their way into my messed up life?"_ Ichigo thought as his gaze shifted from Akitsu to the Sekirei known as Mutsu.

Just as Ichigo had finished that thought Mutsu dased forwards at incredible speeds, while he was not going even close to his maximum striking speed a normal human would never be able to dodge his strike. The moment he would get close, he would pull his sword out and strike with enough force to kill a human and do a large amount of damage the surroundings due to the immense force behind the attack, a small chance was better that no chance at all.

Luckily, Ichigo was no normal human. As the silver haired Sekirei inched closer and closer to striking range, Ichigo felt time slow down as adrenaline began kicking in. The orange haired teen released his hand from the badge in his pocket and instead pulled that arm over Akitsu's shoulder and pulled her into his chest in an attempt to shield her. With his other hand he tried to reach out and grab Mutsu's arm before it struck, while this was a sound tactic that had worked in his sould form his human body could bever act that fast. This meaned that he would be pretty badly cut even if he could avoid a direct blow.

Screwing his eyes tightly shut , Ichigo counted down to the moment his hand would miss it's mark and the sword would slice right through his arm or torso. However the stike never connected, in it's place a loud metallic cland was heard.

As Ichigo finally opened his eyes, he was met with a sight he couldn't really understand, standing in from of him was what appeared to a young woman of about average height with a head of messy silvery-grey hair that was wrapped almost entirein bandages from the neck down. Over her shoulder she wore a black Haori similar to the one he frequently saw Karasuba in, only hers was black and looked like it had been though a shredder.

Looking down, Ichigo noticed what she had used to block Mutsu's sword were strange metal claws that looked to be attached to her fingers by some unknown force.

"Harming humans is against the rules... or did you forget that?" The gry haired benefactor mumbled as Mutsu pushed off and landed next to his Ashikabi some feet away.

"You wouldn't want the disciplinary squad involved would you Hayato Mikogami?" The woman asked as she shifted her metal claws in a striking now named that was Mutsu's Ashikabi immediately looked frightened as he backed away from the woman slowly.

"Che! Let's go Mutsu." The oy said as he and his Sekirei backed away from the trio, his objective to include Akitsu to his collection now throughly forgotten.

"You okay?" The woman said as she turned around to face the teen, her sharp grey eyes looked into his for a moment before she quickyly averted her gaze.

After a moment of staring at his unknown benefactor, Ichigo finally caught up with the fact that she was asking him a question. Wihout noticing the fact that the woman in front of his was blushing madly and her breathing was becoming more and more larbored, Ichigo quickly stood up straight and nodded briskly.

"Yeah, thanks for the save but who are you and why did you save me?" Ichigo asked, not liking the fact that a Sekirei just so happened to pass by in time and saved him. More importantly if she was part of the game as well, why hasn't she attacked him or Akitsu yet?

"I'm... a friend of Karrasuba's, she told me about you so I decided to observe you for a while." The woman said, her voice barely a mumble as she spoke to the teen.

_"Friend huh? I'm pretty sure the only thing that matters to Karasuba is fighting, killing and her new Ashikabi."_ Haihane thought to herself as she tried hard not to look at the Orange head's scowling yet shockingly handsome features.

"So got a name or do I just call you a friend of Karasuba?" Ichigo asked, scratching the back his his head with his left hand.

"Haihane...and I think you broke her." Haihane said, jesturing to Akitsu who still had her face firmly pressed against Ichigo's chest from when he tried to sheild her against Mutsu's sword. Right now Akitsu seemed to be in bad shape, her face had turned bright red and her breath had become wild and ragged. Her eyes held a dazed and hazy look as she made indistinguishable noises as her face was nearly buried in Ichigo's clothing.

To the ordinary person...or as ordinary as Ichigo can get, it looked like Akitsu had suddenly gotten a high fever to another Sekirei however the signs were obvious, she was reacting to ichigo.

"Damn it, she must have been in the snow too long! Hey Haihane could you give me a hand and...Haihane?"

Ichigo paused mid sentence as he raised his head to the bandaged covered Sekirei, he noticed how her head was tilted down so he couldn't see her eyes that were hidden under her bags of grey hair. Her fist were clenched so tight that Ichigo could swear he heard the stretching of her bandages. Her while body was trembling and her hands began shaking slightly as a dim red tint could be seen on her cheeks.

"No...I saw you first..." Haihane mumbled, You may be Karasuba's but I won't let some random rejected number beat me to my Ashikabi..." Haihane fumed as Ichigo slowly tried to back away, however carrying a sick girl in one of his arms was not making the task any easier.

"Hai..mmmPPHH!?" Ichigo could barely registered what had happened as his head was pulled down by the collar and his view was filled with grey hair and a pair of closed eyes followed by a bright light.

A pair of intricate grey wing burst from Haihane's back a a wave of reiatsu was released, Their lips parting for only a moment before locking together once more.

"These are the claws of my pledge, slice apart the foes of my Ashikabi." Haihane breathed as she let their lips part for her to recite her Norito and seal the deal between them and establish their bond.

o0 Meanwhile in MBI headquarters 0o

"Ahahahaha! Another one, my my this Ichigo sure knows how to make things interesting!" Minaka Horito laughed as he spun about in place on his large leather chair.

In the same building, Karasuba had been busy relaxing in the bath as she suddenly jumped to her feet, a look of pure bloodthirst and killing reflected in her eyes as a wide smile graced her face. "Someone needs to die tonight... Ahaha...ahaha.." She laughed as she grabbed her Nodaichi, almost forgetting to put of some clothes as she walked out, carrying a sea of black killing intent with her.


	8. Chapter 8: Ash and Ice

Hey guys, Corporal again with another chapter of this fanfic. I managed to confirm that Karasuba, Haihane, Akitsu, Miya and Kazehana. For those that keep asking, no Uzume she already has Chiho and they have a strong bond so I have no excuse to include her as part of Ichigo's flock. So as far as the plot goes I really don't know how to really go about it, I'll just reread the Mnaga to get the details so for now the anime material is what I can go on.

"Speaking"

_"Thinking" _

_**"Hollow/Zangetsu"**_

**"Juha Bach/Old man Zangetsu"**

Chapter 8: Ash and Ice

Ichigo opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling to his basic but comfortable room in Izumo Inn, the clock mounted on the wall suddenly felt like it ticked a lot louder than before as the room was filled with silence. As the teen turned his head sleepily to the side without leaving the comfort of his pillow, he mentally groaned at the time his body had decided to wake him up, it was still barely past midnight. The event of just about four hours ago were still fresh in his mind.

o0 On a path leading to Izumo Inn several hours ago 0o

It was a strange feeling for Ichigo as he carried two women at once, under his right arm he carried his new Sekirei Haihane. On his back he carried Akitsu while usin his other arm to hold onto her leg to prevent her from slipping off his back as he walked. Funny story of how both Sekirei had become unconsious within the span of six seconds, first was Akitsu who seemed like she had been left out in the cold too long and had gotten a high fever effectively fainting in Ichigo's arms. Haihane on the other hand suffered by her own hand, after she had kissed Ichigo she turned to rub her head while forgetting the fact that she was wearing razor sharp claws. The resulting fountain of blood that comically sprayed from the gothic looking Sekirei's head caused her to faint from shock and blood loss, leaving a very confused Ichigo to carry them back to Izumo Inn.

_"How does someone unconsiously stab themselves anyways?" _ Ichigo thought as he continued on the snow covered path.

It seemed like He was a magnet for empowered beings as long as he could remember, from ghosts to Hollow to Shinigami to espada and bounts and finally to Aizen and the Fullbringers. "I need Soul Society insurance or something..." Ichigo sighed as he reached the front door of Izumo Inn.

The light were off, which was understandable being how late it was. Luckily Ichigo had gotten a key from Miya wome time ago in case she had gone out or if he came home late, now was such a time when the key would come in handy. Turning the key and enetring the traditional Japanese house as slowly and as quietly as he could, the Strawberry made his way to his room and gently closed the door behind him as he gently placed the two Sekirei in his bed. the day finnally catch up with him, Ichigo let his body fall down to the confort of his bed not having enough evergy to register he was sleeping beside two women in extremely revealing attire.

o0 Present 0o

Ichigo's eyes widened as he realised what had happened, he immediately tried to move his arms only for each arm to be wedged in between two soft, warm mounds of flesh. From the dim moonlight that shone through the gaps in his curtains, Ichigo could clearly see his new Sekirei Haihane and what she called the rejected number...Akitsu holding onto his limbs. With each Sekirei tighly hugging each of his muscled arms between their soft breasts and their legs crossing over his, his brain decided to cease all brain function rather than risk further damage.

The moment the world went dark again for Ichigo Kurosaki, the comfort of his bed was replaced with the cold, hard glass of a window. Getting up slowly as he took in the sights of his inner world once more, maybe having a bond that reported everything you did was a double edged sword after all.

"Hello my Ashikabi." Ichigo heard A voice that could only belong to one person say from somewhere behind him, that and the fact that a sword was pressed to the back of his neck.

"Hey Karasuba." Ichigo calmly said, craning his neck over his shoulder so he could see his first Sekirei pressing her Nodaichi to his neck.

"Don't "hey" me Ichigo, I leave you alone for two days and you go off to wing some other Sekirei?" Karasuba said, tightening her grip on her sword and enticing a metallic ring from the blade.

The unique thing about Ichigo was, he could read people by looking at them when they fight or even simply when their weapons was draw their weapon drawn on him. He could even that though Karasuba's face was stuck in the same sadistic grin that she wore when she was in battle, the unmistakeable underlying hurt in her voice, as if she felt betrayed by him as if he had done something akin to a spouse cheating on his partner. Relenting instead of trying to explain the situation and reason his way out from being slashed, Ichigo merely got up from his position on the overturned building he was sitting on, Ignoring the blade that followed his neck as he did so. Unflinching at the cold steel that threatened to decapitate him.

Turning around to face his enraged Sekirei, Ichigo hardened his gaze as he pushed the offending blade away from his neck. "Look, your friend kissed me and if you haven't noticed I didn't exactly ask to get into all of this Sekirei business. All the time I just go with whatever you say, you say we hand this bond but how come you're never around?What do I look like to you, a battery to be used to further your own power!?" Ichigo growled, almost to the point of shouting at Karasuba.

"So what if you are?" Karasuba asked, drawing her sword back to grip it loosely at her side as she stared at Ichigo, giving the Vizard a small smile that could easily freeze the blood in an average human's veins.

Even as she tried to act tough and unhindered, Ichigo could see her distress when he uttered that sentence. The Nodaichi in her hand shook slightly in her grasp as her slate grey eyes tried their best to remain calm. _"Maybe i was a little harsh."_ ichigo though as he observed the grey-haired Sekirei's reaction.

In Karasuba's mind however, thoughts were raging like a storm over previously calm seas the words of Ichigo Kurosaki echo in her mind like thunder. She knew that she was the one to intiate their first kiss, she wanted him as her Ashikabi because of his strength and power while nothing else mattered to her. But she was a Sekirei, a creature born off instinct and her purpose was to fight and kill opponents. At one point her goal was to defeat Sekirei No.8 Yume, but she had given her tama to Musubi and left Karasuba without a rival or a goal save for No.1 Miya in which she wasn't even sure if she could kill Miya if she had tried.

Suddenly She had found her destined Ashikabi, the one she was meant to defeat other Sekirei and Asend to the heavens with. She reacted to him, the way he fought, as if nothing he faced was a challenge worthy to truely raise his sword against. In his intense amber brown gaze she saw not a weak human teenage boy about to go into college, but a warrior merely trapped in the body of a gruff and scowling human boy. Yet to her he was only a means to get stronger, that dark and dense power that he constantly leaked was what she had been trying to get. After spending some time with him, she had seen the man behind both the boy and the warrior. Ichigo while being eighteen years old had never had a romantic relationship with anyone before, as far as Karasuba could see he was far too innocent for his own good when it came to women as he had a tendency to blush madly when shown nearly any nudity or when someone of the opposite gender made advances on him. While not completely vulnerable to a point where he was powerless to a woman, he had a rather strange view of honor when it came to fighting which only made him more appealling in her eyes.

Observing how he had saved helpless people from rapists and muggers, she had grown to know why his name meant "He who Protects". Even in the short time she had known him, he cared for her in a way that no other had, as bloodthirsty as she was he still never judged her when he knew of the blood on her hands. Slowly but surely, she had to admit defeat. While herself from a month ago would never have thought it possible, her pounding heart, the red tinge creeping across her face and her feverish temperature said otherwise.

"No, you arent..." Karasuba said as she slowly sheathed her blade, and lowered her head so her messy grey hair covered her eyes and her growing blush. Pressing a hand to her chest to steady her heart for a moment, the Sekirei took a step towards the slightly worried Vizard.

Time seemed to slow down for Ichigo as the Sekirei fell forwards for no reason, her palms rested on his chest. While being pushed by a normal human wouldn't have moved Ichigo in the slightest, Sekirei were a different story altogether as he felt a massive amount of force from her push managed to send the Ashikabi and Sekirei duo to the ground.

"Hey, what the hell?" Ichigo yelled from his position on the ground as he had landed on his back while his Sekirei was simply resting on his body, her head rested on his neck as her hands travelled to his face. Ichigo had instinctively latched onto his Sekirei's slim waist as they fell, making the position they were in highly questionable.

"I love you my Ashikabi, I don't care how many Sekirei that you have. Just promise me that you'll always be mine, so we can asend to the heaven together one day..." Karasuba whispered as she pinned the orange haired teen to the ground.

Slightly stunned by the sudden change in his Sekirei Ichigo's eyes followed the Sekirei as she pushed off the orange-haired teen's chest. Long streaks of grey hair shrouded The moonlight of Ichigo's inner world as Karasuba hovered over Ichigo's pinned body, in her narrow grey eyes she held a look that only a predator could hold. Yet in her he saw more than just instinct that he had learned to trust from his hollow, in her eyes Ichigo could feel the longing in her heart as she sought out battle day by day in order to fill the void a void that only an Ashikabi could fill. That Ashikabi was him and for as long as he lived, Karasuba would never feel so empty so... hollow.

Allowing a rare and genuine smile to spread across his face, Ichigo tightened his grip around the much smaller Sekirei's waist with his right hand while his left travelled up her back, sending shivers down her spine with his touch.

"I promise Karasuba." Ichigo said as she slowly drew the teen in for a kiss, the shade red never leaving her pale face as the couple closed their eyes and locked lips.

Ichigo only opened his eyes slightly to see the beautiful black wings that sprouted from his Sekirei's back caused by their kiss. Only this time the intricate black wings held a small number of bright glowing Azure blue while all her originally pitch black feathers held a red glow about them. He suspected that feeding off his reiatsu was the cause of this change but the position those thoughts were occupied were erased once Ichigo felt Karasuba break the kiss and lightly parted her lips to allow her soft tongue to lick his lips, asking for permission as Ichigo was only too happy to comply.

As they explored the inner most reaches of their mouths, so lost in bliss were the two that they had forgotten how quickly time could pass in Ichigo's inner world. The light of dawn had decided to creep up on the two as they broke the passionate kiss, pulling her tongue out only after sher lips had parted with Ichigo's.

"Now, that's all I was asking for Ichigo." Karasuba said as she licked her lips seductively, mildly consious of the dim light that was creeping up to greet the two residents of Ichigo's soul.

"I'll see you soon, my Ashikabi..." Karasuba said as Ichigo's inner world got brighter and brighter with each passing second.

Ichigo opened his eyes slowly as his muscles ached in protest at him waking up, wincing slightly as a gap in the curtains from the previous night allowed a small ray of sunlight to shine into his room and hit him directly in the face. As Ichigo tried to raise a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he noticed that his arms wouldn't respond to his brain's commands. Trying to move his legs enticing the same response as he found his body pinned seemed completely pinned to his bed.

Finally daring to look down, Ichigo couldn't say he was surprised to see the two Sekirei he helped last night had been using him as a pillow. Each Sekirei had shifted positions in their sleep, on his right Akitsu slept on his chest as one of her arms was laid on his chest as if to feel his heartbeat. While her body pinned his arm to his side, her legs were wrapped around his thigh and part of his torso. Ichigo immediately took notice of a small bundle of white cloth some distance from his bed, looking down once again he noticed that she had shrugged off the lab coat she wore from last night and her soft, bare chest were pushed up against his clothed one.

_"How the hell does someone just take off their cloth..."_ ichigo though before he cut his thoughts off as he remembered all those days he spent training under Yoruichi.

Quickly turning his redened visage the other direction, Ichigo's face immediately brushed up against Hairhane's dishevelled grey hair. Despite stabbing herself in her head at five seperate points the night before, Haihane looked remarkably healthy if experience of getting stabbed himself had thought him anything of the lenght of time it would take to recover from cuts could take especially long.

Haihane's head rested in the crook of Ichigo's neck as she slept, her warm breath of Ichigo's neck as she held the Vizard's arm in a vice-like grip. She laid half her body on Ichigo while she shifted in her sleep, she pulled his arm to her chest see king it's warmth in the cold winter morning making Ichigo turn as red as the fruit people usually associate him with. However, the bandages Haihane used began to loosen from the night she had spent moving and cuddling up against the orange haired teen. Her bandages began to undo themselves around her confined chest, to make things worse she was rubbing the area between her legs on Ichigo's hand as she moving. Knowingly or not the Sekirei moaned softly as the bandages in various locations around her body made way for soft, exposed skin.

Turning his head towards the ceiling in a desperate attempt to stem the blood rushing to his head from the stimulation, Ichigo decided enough was enough. Moving hs arms enough to struggle free from the Sekirei, causing them to stir in the process and slowly awake to meet his gaze or rather, attempt to meet his gaze while he tried to avoid theirs.

"Morning..." Akitsu mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she slowly sat herself up.

"Y-yeah sure, why did you take your clothes off?" Ichigo asked, trying to get some answers from the Sekirei he helped out the night before.

Akitsu seemed to ponder fro awhile until her rather forgetful nature took over. "I forgot..." She said, giving Ichigo a blank stare aas the teen continued to look away.

"Mmm...What happened. This isn't my room..." Haihane mumbled as she got up and looked around, her mind still clouded with sleep as she turned to face him, a small smile replacing her previous confusion.

"Morning, Ashikabi-sama." Haihane said as she finally found her bearings.

"Just call me ichigo, I don't like going by any titles." Ichigo said, waving off her initial greeting.

"Alright, good morning Ichigo." Haihane said, standing up and tightening her bandages.

_"He lives with Miya, I can't stay long or I'll get in trouble."_ Haihane though as Ichigo rose to his feet, with one swift motion the Blue Sekirei wrapped Ichigo in a tight yet gentle embrace.

"Huh!?" Ichigo blurted out as he found his body pressed against his new Sekirei's. "Hey, what're you doing?" Ichigo said as he looked down at the smaller woman.

"I have to go, but remember that you're my Ashikabi... I'll be with you forever." Haihane said as she landed a soft kiss on the teen's lips, a bright light erupted from her back as she held them in place for some time.

The woman pulled away from the kiss and pulled open Ichigo's window and turned her head to flash a small smile to her stunned Ashikabi before jumping out of the window and disappear into the city. Akitsu watched as the exchange with slight sadness in her eyes knowing not if he would accept her as his Sekirei.

Ichigo seemed to take notice of this when he turned his head to see her, trying to cheer her up Ichigo decided to change the topic. "So, if you don't have anywhere to go you could stay here." ichigo said, cnsidering what Miya did quite ofter was help those in need. Extending a hand to help her up from her position on his bed, Ichigo flashed her a knowing smile.

"I would like that..." Akitsu said as she held the teen's hand, relishing the feeling of his skin of hers as he pulled her up.

Immediately the teen blushed and turned away from her naked form, his mind finally registering that she was nude."Will you put on some clothes already!" Ichigo shouted.


End file.
